L’Oreal, one of the largest beauty supply companies in the world, will feature a woman wearing a hijab in its latest ad campaign.
Blogger and model Amena Khan, who will be featured in L’Oreal Paris’s campaign, argued that hair products should still be marketed to people who choose not to show their hair in public.
“You have to wonder — why is it presumed that women that don’t show their hair don’t look after it?” Khan asked in an interview with Vogue.
“The opposite of that would be that everyone that does show their hair only looks after it for the sake of showing it to others,” she continued. “And that mindset strips us of our autonomy and our sense of independence.”
Adrien Koskas, L’Oréal Paris UK general manager, said that L’Oreal is “proud and excited” to be launching the campaign.
“L’Oréal Paris UK are both proud and excited to be launching such a unique and disruptive campaign for the haircare market, a category which in previous years has been perceived as the cliché of beauty advertising,” she said.
Twitter users quickly pointed out the absurdity of advertising hair products using women who do not show their hair.
L’Oreal contributes to the normalization of the hijab, a symbol of actual patriarchal oppression, violence & enforced modesty culture for women across the Middle East.
How is this perfect? https://t.co/TFw0a6GWZd
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) January 18, 2018
L’Oréal using the hijab to promote hair products, is like Neutrogena using gloves to promote hand cream #Loreal #hijab #pointless pic.twitter.com/z7rJIFCRPP
— Liam Tuffs (@TuffsLiam) January 18, 2018
Does L’Oreal also produce make-up for women who got attacked with acid after removing the Hijab? https://t.co/kN2ZofvOY1
— Aisha Murtad (@UmmAlMumineen) January 18, 2018
Where’s her hair tho??
— Ester Santos (@Ester_Santos87) January 17, 2018
It reminded me of this ad. pic.twitter.com/wqjBC3oWd5
— Sagal (@SagalQasim) January 18, 2018
Wonder how the ladies of Iran feel about this glamorization of their metaphorical collars… #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/2iWFF2edT5
— Hater Dave (@BoxingAsylumWhy) January 18, 2018